The final of the souped-up talent contest is on Saturday, December 17, which gives the winner four days to get a single into the shops in time to make a claim on the Christmas number-one spot, assuming G4 or Westlife don't get there first.

Not every young person is going to get onto Popstars, or sell a number one record.

These three lines from one song from the current number one Hindi film soundtrack album (Kal Ho Naa Ho) in Mumbai say it all.